Grayscale Avalanche Staking ETF will begin trading tomorrow.
According to official Grayscale news, the Grayscale Avalanche Staking ETF (ticker symbol: GAVA) will begin trading tomorrow, providing investors with direct exposure to AVAX.
Sources say Hong Kong will issue stablecoin licenses to HSBC, Standard Chartered, and OSL.
According to a report by Sing Tao Daily citing multiple sources, HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank, and the Hong Kong-based virtual asset trading platform OSL will be among the first companies to receive stablecoin licenses in Hong Kong. The report states that the list could be announced as early as next week, but it is not yet finalized and is subject to change. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) stated that it would not comment on market rumors. Previous reports from Hong Kong media indicated that stablecoin licenses from the HKMA would be issued after the Two Sessions, with the initial batch consisting of fewer than four companies.
According to Cointelegraph, VanEck will include some of its digital asset ETFs in US 401(k) retirement plans through a partnership with fintech platform Basic Capital. Basic Capital is a provider of corporate 401(k) retirement plan platforms, and this partnership will allow retirees to gain exposure to digital assets through ETFs. The two parties did not specify which VanEck digital asset ETPs will be offered. VanEck's crypto products include a spot Bitcoin ETF, a spot Ethereum ETF, and an "on-chain economy" ETF that invests in companies within the digital asset ecosystem. VanEck also launched the spot Avalanche ETF earlier this year.
According to SolanaFloor, Pump.fun has registered subdomains for Base, BSC, Monad, and Ethereum, suggesting the platform may be considering expanding beyond the Solana ecosystem to other blockchains. Pump.fun has also removed the "Solana" location tag from its X account profile.
According to The Block, Strive, a publicly traded Bitcoin treasury company, announced a 25 basis point increase in its SATA preferred stock dividend to 12.75%, and narrowed the price range from $95-$105 to $99-$101. SATA is a high-yield, perpetual preferred instrument backed by a Bitcoin treasury and traded on Nasdaq, mimicking the design of Strategy's STRC stock, which minimizes price volatility through an adjustable floating dividend yield. The company also increased its Bitcoin holdings to 13,311 (compared to 13,131.82 Bitcoins disclosed in January) and purchased $50 million worth of Strategy's perpetual preferred stock STRC (currently yielding 11.5%).
According to on-chain analyst Ember, a whale/institution that withdrew 44,888 ETH from Kraken yesterday withdrew another 18,436 ETH (US$38.26 million) from Kraken early this morning. This means that in just over a day, they withdrew a total of 63,324 ETH (US$131 million) from Kraken, at a price of US$2,072. These ETH are currently held in four wallets.
Trump restarts tariff war: Launches Section 301 investigations against 16 economies in one go
According to Jinshi News, the Trump administration has launched the first of several large-scale trade investigations, paving the way for new tariffs and a key move aimed at replacing tariffs overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer announced Wednesday that his office will launch investigations into 16 major economies under Section 301 of the Trade Act, focusing on so-called “overcapacity.” These investigations, which typically take months to complete, are a necessary prerequisite for President Trump to unilaterally impose tariffs on imports from specific countries deemed to have engaged in unfair trade practices.
Binance founder Changpeng Zhao responded again to Forbes' previous valuation of his net worth at $110 billion in a post on the X platform. Zhao stated that as a shareholder, he welcomes the increase in Binance's valuation, but the fact is that Binance's valuation cannot rise when crypto prices fall. As the largest crypto exchange, Binance rises and falls with the industry; a crypto winter means reduced trading volume, and lower prices lead to decreased transaction fee revenue. For this obvious reason, Binance and he himself have always hoped for industry growth and higher prices for mainstream crypto assets. He stated that he has never shorted or attempted to "suppress prices," and even after stepping down from managing Binance, he continues to promote cryptocurrencies to governments in many countries. Zhao said that while he appreciates Forbes' high praise of Binance, extrapolating his net worth increase based on Binance's recent valuation growth lacks logic in his view.
FDIC Chairman: Stablecoins are not entitled to any form of deposit insurance under the GENIUS Act.
According to CoinDesk, Travis Hill, president of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), stated that under the GENIUS Act, stablecoin holders will not be eligible for any form of deposit insurance, including "transferred insurance" obtained by financial institutions on behalf of their clients. He pointed out that the GENIUS Act explicitly distinguishes stablecoins from bank deposits, which are guaranteed by the U.S. government for up to $250,000. Hill explained that current transferred insurance rules require the ability to identify the end customer and their interests in the day-to-day operations, a feature currently lacking in large stablecoin arrangements. Although stablecoins cannot obtain FDIC insurance, the law stipulates that they must maintain full reserves, protected by the issuer's own safeguards.
According to CoinDesk, data shows that institutional-grade crypto exchange Bullish entered the top three centralized exchanges in spot trading volume for the first time in February, surpassing Coinbase. Bullish's spot trading volume increased by 62.6% month-over-month to $76 billion, the highest monthly total since October last year; its market share rose to 5.06%, exceeding Coinbase's 4.59%. Bullish went public on the New York Stock Exchange last year. Despite Bullish's increased share, overall centralized exchange activity declined. Total spot and derivatives trading volume fell 2.41% in February to $5.61 trillion, the lowest level since October last year. Binance still leads with a 22% market share, but its dominance has fallen to its lowest level since October 2020, indicating that trading activity is dispersing to more competing platforms.
According to The Block, on-chain trading platform Fantasy.top is facing accusations from angel investors who claim the team has disappeared and is refusing to return approximately $50,000 in angel investment, raising questions about a "soft pull." One investor stated that the promised roadmap and financial statements were never received, and the funds were used for team salaries. Several prominent crypto investors have also responded with similar experiences, including the CEO of Ethos Network and a partner at 6th Man Ventures, the latter of which called for an anonymous response from founder Travis Bickle. In response to the accusations, the founder stated that there is "a great deal of misinformation," claiming that the company has been entirely self-funded through product revenue for the past two years, with the revenue reinvested in the development of multiple products and systems within the Fantasy app, and that investor funds have not been used for operations.
According to The Block, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the China Federation of Trade Unions (CFTC) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) pledging to strengthen coordination and cooperation to support legitimate innovation, maintain market integrity, and ensure investor and customer protection. SEC Chairman Paul Atkins stated that decades of regulatory turf wars, duplicate registrations, and conflicting regulations between the two agencies have stifled innovation and pushed market participants to other jurisdictions. The two agencies stated their commitment to developing federal policies that "fit crypto-assets and other emerging technologies," and pledged in the MOU to "coordinate closely and cooperate to remove, where appropriate, barriers to the legitimate launch of crypto-asset products." While MOUs are typically non-binding, the formal commitment by the two agencies to work closely together on policy measures, including those related to crypto, is a positive sign for digital asset advocates.
According to CoinDesk, Wells Fargo, a major U.S. bank, has filed a trademark application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for a cryptocurrency-related service called WFUSD. The application states that WFUSD will offer services such as "cryptocurrency payment processing," "execution of digital asset transactions," and "services featuring asset tokenization software." The name suggests it could be a deposit token or stablecoin. Previously, in 2019, Wells Fargo disclosed plans to pilot an internal settlement service called "Wells Fargo Digital Cash" running on its proprietary distributed ledger platform.
According to Bloomberg, Ripple has launched a share buyback program of up to $750 million, valuing the company at approximately $50 billion. The offer, open to investors and employees, is expected to continue until April. Last November, Ripple completed a $500 million funding round at a $40 billion valuation, with investors including Citadel Securities and Fortress Investment Group.
The Bank of England has hinted at a possible easing of restrictions on stablecoin holdings.
According to Bloomberg, Bank of England Deputy Governor Sarah Breeden hinted that regulators may soften their strict stance on capping stablecoin holdings, a proposal that has drawn strong opposition from the digital asset industry. Last November, the Bank proposed temporary caps of £20,000 for individuals and £10 million for businesses holding stablecoins deemed systemically important, to prevent risks arising from sudden transfers of customer deposits from banks to stablecoins. However, stablecoin issuers and the crypto industry warned that these caps would be difficult to enforce and could stifle innovation. Speaking before a House of Lords committee, Breeden said the Bank is “open to other ways” to achieve its goal of protecting the UK economy and is reviewing feedback received on the consultation paper from last November.
Circle, Binance, and others join Mastercard's Crypto Partner Program
According to Bloomberg, Mastercard has announced a new global partner program, recruiting over 85 digital asset companies, payment service providers, and financial institutions, including Circle, Binance, and Gemini. The program aims to keep crypto payments connected to its network, as stablecoins are being promoted as an alternative to traditional payment methods. Both Mastercard and Visa have had stablecoin initiatives since 2021 and are betting on becoming integral parts of the companies driving the adoption of stablecoins in everyday payments.
According to Jinshi News, U.S. Energy Secretary Wright issued a statement regarding the release of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, stating that the 32 member countries of the International Energy Agency unanimously agreed to Trump's request to coordinate the release of 400 million barrels of crude oil and refined products from their reserves to lower energy prices. As part of this action, Trump authorized the Department of Energy to release 172 million barrels of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve starting next week. Based on the planned release pace, delivery is expected to be completed in approximately 120 days. At the same time, Trump pledged to ensure U.S. energy security through the responsible management of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The U.S. has already arranged to replenish its strategic reserves by approximately 200 million barrels over the next year—20% more than the planned withdrawal—without taxpayers bearing any costs. Earlier today, attacks on two oil tankers in the Gulf region pushed oil prices sharply higher in early trading.
The USDC Treasury minted an additional 250 million USDC on the Solana blockchain.
According to Whale Alert, USDC Treasury, the issuer of USDC, minted an additional 250 million USDC on the Solana blockchain.
According to Solid Intel, Ledger has disclosed a security vulnerability in MediaTek's Dimensity 7300 chip. Attackers could steal hot wallet seed phrases from Android devices equipped with this chip within minutes after gaining physical access to the device.
Revolut will receive a full banking license in the UK this week.
According to the Financial Times, fintech company Revolut is expected to receive a full banking license in the UK this week.
According to Globenewswire, YZi Labs issued a statement saying that, according to a lawsuit filed by investor Abraham Gomez against Nasdaq-listed CEA Industries and its director Hans Thomas, the company is in a state of "operational vacuum," lacking a CFO, COO, operations or marketing team, a fund management system, and even a registered domain name or a working website.
The US core CPI annual rate was 2.5%, in line with market expectations.
The U.S. unadjusted core CPI rose 2.5% year-on-year in February, in line with market expectations and unchanged from the previous month.
US CPI in February met expectations and remained unchanged from the previous month.
The U.S. unadjusted CPI rose 2.4% year-on-year in February, in line with market expectations and unchanged from the previous month.
Iran claims it is fully capable of blocking the Strait of Hormuz.
A spokesman for Iran's Hatem Anbia Central Command issued a stern warning today (March 11), stating that Iran is fully capable of blocking the Strait of Hormuz. The spokesman clearly stated, "We will never allow even a single liter of oil to pass through the Strait of Hormuz in a way that benefits the United States and its allies." He also pointed out that Western attempts to suppress global oil and energy prices through external intervention are doomed to failure.
In response to the security risks of "Lobster" in typical application scenarios, the Cybersecurity Threat and Vulnerability Information Sharing Platform (NVDB) of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, together with intelligent agent providers, vulnerability collection platform operators, and cybersecurity companies, proposed a "six dos and six don'ts" recommendation. Among these recommendations, financial transaction scenarios present a significant risk of erroneous transactions and even account hijacking. Deploying "Lobster" by enterprises or individuals and calling financial application interfaces can automate trading and risk control, improving the efficiency of quantitative trading, intelligent investment research, and portfolio management, and enabling functions such as market data capture, strategy analysis, and trading order execution. Countermeasures include: implementing network isolation and least privilege, closing unnecessary internet ports; establishing manual review and circuit breaker emergency mechanisms, adding secondary confirmation for critical operations; strengthening supply chain audits, using official components, and regularly patching vulnerabilities.
Bittensor infrastructure startup General Tensor raises $5 million in funding.
According to The Block, Bittensor infrastructure startup General Tensor announced the completion of an oversubscribed seed and pre-seed funding round, totaling $5 million. The seed round was led by Goldman Sachs-backed venture capital firm Good Morning Holdings, while the pre-seed round was led by Lvna Capital in December 2024, with participation from DCG, X Ventures, Proof of Talk, and Outliers Fund. Founded in early 2024, General Tensor focuses on building and operating the mining, validation, and subnet infrastructure for the decentralized AI network Bittensor.
Binance will launch the 61st HODLer airdrop project: Midnight (NIGHT).
Binance announced the listing of NIGHT, the token of the Midnight blockchain project using zero-knowledge proof technology. A total of 240 million NIGHT tokens, representing 1% of the maximum total supply, will be distributed through the 61st HODLer Airdrops to users who subscribed to Simple Earn (flexible or fixed deposit) and/or On-Chain Yields with BNB between February 16th and 18th, 2026. The announcement stated that the total maximum supply of NIGHT is 24 billion tokens, with a circulating supply of approximately 16.607 billion tokens at launch (approximately 69.19% of the total supply). Spot trading pairs with USDT, USDC, BNB, and TRY will be available on Binance on March 11th, 2026 at 15:30 (UTC), and a seed tag will be applied. An additional 240 million NIGHT tokens will be reserved for subsequent marketing activities.
The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating Iran's use of Binance to circumvent sanctions.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the U.S. Department of Justice is investigating how Iran used Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, to circumvent U.S. sanctions. The report, citing company documents and sources familiar with the matter, states that an internal Binance investigation into the suspicious flow of over $1 billion through the platform to a network that funds Iranian-backed terrorist groups, including the Houthi rebels in Yemen, was halted. The investigation focuses on the flow of these funds on Binance and the associated compliance risks.
Binance launches lobster USDT perpetual contract
Binance Futures will launch USDⓈ-based lobster USDT perpetual contracts on March 11, 2026 at 19:30 (UTC+8), supporting up to 5x leverage.
